


All Aboard

by starksnack



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Best Friends, Cliche, Cruise Ships, Friends to Lovers, Hydra (Marvel), M/M, True Love, Undercover as Married, as hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-10-04 10:36:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17303069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksnack/pseuds/starksnack
Summary: Ahoy to my guys, gals, and non binary pals, this is your Captain speaking.Tonight's entertainment is an undercover newlyweds stony fic so sit back, relax, and bask in the stupidity of our friendly neighbourhood idiots in love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [itsallAvengers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsallAvengers/gifts).



> This fic wouldn't be possible without all the amazing betas who went through my mess of a doc and painstakingly added commas to run on sentences and reeled in my wild and impossible ideas. Thanks to [Nina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_gilliath/pseuds/el_gilliath), [Megan](http://leturna.tumblr.com/), and [ootcs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_of_those_crushing_scenes/pseuds/one_of_those_crushing_scenes), the best crew a Captain could ask for.  
> This one is a thank you to [Gee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsallAvengers/pseuds/itsallAvengers) who I don't know very well but she puts up with my weirdness and makes me smile.

“Do you have the flowers?”

Steve shook his head fondly, even though Tony couldn’t see him through the phone. “Yeah, I have the four hundred dollar flower arrangement you hand-picked to apologize to your godmother about not visiting her, even though you saw her last week.” He couldn’t help a chuckle into the receiver as he leaned down to push his nose toward the budding roses and calla lilies that were cradled in his arms. Tony had delicately wrapped them in plastic himself, and Steve had been surprised with the gentle care Tony had used when tying the pretty yellow ribbon around the arrangement.

“Okay, tell her I love her and that I wanted to be there.” Steve could hear the barely contained anxiety in his voice coupled with the apology. Tony rarely missed one of their weekly meetings with Peggy, and when he did, it was usually with a sincere apology and an expensive gift.

“Of course I will, even though I don’t need to.” Steve finally reached the brownstone Peggy was living in, taking the steps two at a time. Tony had offered to move her to a more luxurious apartment in downtown Manhattan, or even to the Tower with him, but she had outright refused, so he'd done the next best thing and bought the whole building, upgrading security and renovating, until it was nice enough that even Tony could live there. Actions like that made Steve certain in his belief that there was more kindness to Tony than what the team had seen from him. “I’m outside, so I gotta hang up. I’ll see you later.”

“Give Aunt Peg a hug from me,” Tony said by way of farewell before promptly hanging up. Steve had noticed that, too; Tony almost never said goodbye. It was always “see you later” or some other unconventional phrase that expressed his inability to say goodbye.

Steve pulled the wood door open and stepped into the white-tiled foyer. He toed off his shoes before heading through the spacious, living room. The couches were a warm beige and the coffee table bore scars from years of use (the most entertaining of marks was Tony’s name carved into the table leg). This place clearly wasn’t just a house, but a well-loved home. “Peggy?”

In the distance, Steve heard Peggy’s answering call - “In here, Steve!” - and followed her voice to her bedroom. Everything was neatly put away, and Steve paused to take in Peggy, lying in bed, still looking as beautiful as ever, despite the bags underscoring her eyes and the pale pallor to her skin. There was a record playing on the gramophone, so Sharon must have just left. Steve revelled in the soft notes of Bing Crosby washing over him.

He hated seeing Peggy like this, a frail shell of the strong woman he used to know. He chastised himself, knowing she would have hated him thinking like that. She had lived a long and fulfilling life. Steve set the bouquet of flowers in her arms before pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

“Are these from my darling Anthony?” She buried her nose in the flowers with a contented sigh, and Steve brushed a hand through her hair.

“He says he’s sorry he couldn’t be here.” Steve pulled up a chair by her bedside, taking her small hands in his. “He’s at a mission debrief. Technically, I’m supposed to be there, too.”

“Always playing hooky, you delinquent.” Peggy shook her head with a laugh. “There should be a vase on the shelf over there,” she said, pointing to an oak bookshelf in the corner. Sure enough, there was a beautiful glass vase occupying the bottom shelf. Steve picked it up, filled it with water, and poured in the plant food packet that Tony had sent along with the bouquet. Tony had already cut the stems at an angle, so Steve didn’t have much trouble unwrapping the flowers and transferring them to the vase.

“Yellow is my favourite colour,” Peggy whispered, her eyes falling on the flower arrangement with a sigh. “After the war and the horrible things we’d done, the colour of the sunshine and the flowers was such a pleasant relief.”

“Yeah?” Steve pulled the ribbon from the plastic wrap tying it around the vase. Red was Steve’s favorite colour; he tried not to think about why. About the man to whom he’d given his first smile in this new and terrifying future.

“Steve, be a dear and help me up,” Peggy held out her hand, and Steve clutched it in his as she pushed herself up from her bed. She slid one hand up onto his shoulder, refusing to relinquish her grip on his other hand. “Dance with me.”

As he swayed with Peggy to the gentle music, Steve wasn’t surprised to find tears brimming in his eyes. Peggy rested her cheek against his chest, and Steve tipped his head back, blinking quickly to keep the tears at bay.

He recognized the song, “Swinging on a Star,” which had come out the year before he went into the ice. He had loved the whimsical rise and fall of the music and the beautiful harmonies in the voices.

He had waited for this moment for so long, to finally dance with the girl of his dreams. Peggy was quiet as they swayed to the sweet melody, and he knew he’d be hearing this song for the rest of his life. His first dance with the perfect partner. He couldn’t be happier.

“Thank you, Peggy,” Steve murmured as the song swelled to a close, and he released her so she could sit back down on her bed. She patted the space beside her, and he took the seat, their shoulders brushing.

“When I wasn’t busy with SHIELD, I was raising Tony.” Peggy took a deep breath leaning her head on Steve’s shoulder. “I was the one who taught him how to dance, and he took to it like a duck to water. He was three years old, and this was the first song we danced to.” She looked up at Steve, her brown eyes bright as she smiled at the memory. Her hand found his, and she squeezed gently, running her fingers over his knuckles. “He’s a natural at it, you should ask him to teach you. Don’t let that rubbish he normally plays fool you; he loves this song.”

“I’ll ask him when I get back,” Steve said, nodding absently and patting Peggy on the shoulder before standing up and gently tucking her back into her bed. “Speaking of, I gotta go, Tony’s probably waiting for me.”

Peggy shook her head as Steve adjusted the vase of flowers on her bedside so she could see them. He had re-tied the yellow ribbon around the glass of the vase, but he couldn’t get it to look as fancy as Tony’s did. He slid a finger across a soft, waxy petal that was barely blooming.

“He loves you, you know?”

He couldn’t help the tense of his shoulders in surprise as he dropped his hand and turned to look at her. Peggy had closed her eyes as she spoke, and Steve took that as his cue to close the blinds so she could nap.

“I’ve never seen him look so incredibly happy,” Peggy continued.

“Yeah, we may have had a rough start, but Tony and I are great friends,” Steve responded. He stopped the gramophone and put the record back in its sleeve. The grooved ridges felt familiar to his fingers as he slid the sleeve in its place on the bookshelf.

“Oh, Steve.” Peggy shook her head as he bent down to kiss her cheek goodbye. “You are too adorable for your own good.”

“I’ll see you next week, Peg, and Tony will be here too.”

Steve paused in the doorway, looking back at Peggy with a soft smile on her face. While he had originally hated having missed his chance, seeing her so content with how things ended up always made him grin, gave him hope for his own future. She clearly knew what she was doing, and she always gave him the best advice.

Maybe it was time for Steve to finally start taking it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did the ocean leave the party early?  
> He was getting really tide.


	2. Chapter 2

When Tony emerged from the bathroom, Steve was floored. He had never seen Tony clean-shaven, and it made him look ages younger. Steve was surprised to see that the dark blond hair made Tony look a thousand times more attractive, especially coupled with his olive skin. 

Tony was frowning as he dried his hands. “The contacts they gave me are not prescription.”

That’s when Steve noticed his eyes, and good lord. Steve had always thought Tony with brown eyes would be the death of him, but the blue was almost as pretty, sparkling with a new kind of mischief as Tony squinted around the room. “Maybe they’ll let you go without them.”

“Doubtful,” he shrugged, the wet ends of his hair dampening the shoulders of his grey henley. Steve had never seen Tony in acid wash jeans before, and the black, ripped ones he was wearing now clung to his legs like a second skin. Steve had to tear his eyes away in order to focus on the words coming out of Tony’s mouth. “I have glasses around here somewhere,” Tony mumbled, his naked feet slapping against the hardwood floor as he clumsily stumbled away from the bathroom, his depth perception clearly skewed. Tony started to rummage through the bedside table, looking for his glasses.

Steve came up behind him to look over his shoulder. There, right in the middle of the drawer was a black spectacle case with Tom Ford printed in blue across the cover. Steve picked it up and flipped the case open as Tony turned around, caged between Steve and the dark wooden bedside table. Steve plucked the large black frames out of the case pulling them open and gently sliding them onto Tony’s face. “Is that better?”

Tony blinked up owlishly at him as though seeing him for the first time. His blue eyes were magnified by the frames, and Steve suddenly never wanted Tony to take them off. There were a couple of inches between them, all Steve had to do was duck his head to close the gap and they’d be kissing…

A shiver ran down his spine, despite the warm forest green hoodie he was wearing, and Steve resisted the urge to slide his fingers into his sweatpants’ pockets to keep them from reaching out to Tony. 

“With this tracker,” Tony began, his fingers drawing Steve out of his reverie. Steve’s gaze shot down to where Tony was sliding a gold wedding band up his left ring finger.  Tony’s eyes were laughing as he slowly brushed his thumb across Steve’s knuckles and continued, “I, Edward Carbonell, take you, Grant Brooks, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, until Fury do us part.”

Tony’s eyes fluttered shut, and then shook his head as if to clear it. Like a rubber band snapping, the moment was over and Steve had to look away,  letting out a breathy laugh as he stepped back to let Tony move around the room. “They couldn’t even come up with new names for us?” 

“Easier for us to remember, apparently.” Tony shrugged as he neatly folded a pink cat graphic t-shirt before throwing it into his suitcase. 

Steve sighed and picked up the shirt, rolling it so Tony could fit more into his suitcase. “I honestly think it’ll just be  _ more  _ confusing.”

Tony acquiesced with a thoughtful nod as he dug through his dresser drawers for boxers. They fell into a comfortable silence as Tony passed Steve clothes to fold into his suitcase. Tony’s disguise had taken longer because he was more recognizable by the general public. In the time he’d been dying his hair, Steve had gotten his suitcase packed and his things ready to go in the landing bay. Now, with twenty minutes before the SHIELD transport came to pick them up, Tony was rushing to get all his things together.

“Do you think we should do all that adorable couple-y shit and wear matching colours or shades or something?” Tony eyed his wide range of soft dress shirts with a frown. He picked up a green dress shirt before cringing and putting it back on the shelf.

Steve surveyed Tony’s closet going over the clothes he had packed in his head. “Take the blue, grey, and red ones, those are the closest colours to what I’m taking with me.” Tony nodded, handing Steve the last of his clothes before packing in his toiletries and a bunch of crazy-looking electronics that Steve couldn’t even imagine uses for.

Tony sat on his suitcase to make it easier to zip shut. Somehow, even with Steve’s help, he had managed to overpack, and Steve had to force the zipper closed, locking it into a scanner that would only accept his and Tony’s fingerprints. Steve looked up, gently steadying Tony as he slid off the suitcase.

Steve’s phone chirped with a notification that their transport had arrived. He tucked his phone back into his pocket and grabbed Tony’s suitcase to head down to where the SHIELD transport had docked. It would take them almost three hours to get to Barcelona, where they would board a couple’s cruise and spend three days sailing the Mediterranean, doing recon on some shady Hydra operations.

Steve had first stumbled on the illegal dealings of old Stark weapons and technology when Fury split the team, after having thrown himself into his work to forget how much missing Tony made his chest ache. During the same week, Tony uncovered information on his ex-girlfriend, Rumiko, who was somehow involved in the marketing and sale of the illegal arms.

Tony grabbed his suitcase armour painted an inconspicuous black, something he complained about incessantly, before following Steve to the elevator to head to the landing deck. As Steve’s things were already waiting downstairs to be loaded onto the transport, all he had left to grab was his shield, carefully tucked into a black canvas bag.

They stood in the elevator, shoulders brushing and sending tingles through Steve’s chest, all set to head to Europe.

Steve would never be able to complain about not getting a vacation.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did the ocean break up with the pond?  
> He thought he was too shallow.


	3. Chapter 3

“When I jokingly told Fury I wanted a honeymoon suite, I didn’t think he’d come through like this,” Tony mumbled when the key card finally admitted them access to the big room on one of the higher decks.

Steve allowed the soothing nautical theme to wash over him as he stepped into the room after Tony, shutting the door behind them. The bed was a mattress inside a [boat](https://i.pinimg.com/600x315/cb/91/9e/cb919ed8ea46323bd5888d1a7fa94120.jpg), the tapered end filled in with boards and covered with pillows. A large seafoam coloured plush rug stretched across the washed out floor matching wooden picture frames that circled bright white sailors’ knot aesthetics on the wall. There was a small tank of brightly coloured saltwater fish bubbling in the corner of the room.

“I can take the couch,” Steve offered as he dropped their suitcases in the corner, gesturing towards the large navy blue couch pushed against the far wall behind a driftwood coffee table. It was polyblend - not as uncomfortable as leather - so he could just steal a pillow off the bed. Hopefully there were extra blankets in the closet. If he curled a little at the waist, he could probably even fit his feet on the couch without hurting his neck.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Cap, the bed is big enough for the both of us. Besides, it isn’t like we’ve never shared one before.” Tony set the suitcase armour down in the closet before finding his suitcase, pressing his finger to the scanner and opening it up to dig around for clean boxers. “I’m going to go for a quick shower, and you better not be sleeping on the couch when I get back.”

He lifted two fingers in an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture, glaring at Steve playfully before he disappeared into the bathroom. He had taken a shower after visiting Peggy, so he didn’t need another one. He slowly stripped off his hoodie and sweatpants, hanging them up in the closet and hoping Tony would be okay if he slept in just his underwear. The bed did look awful comfortable as Steve crawled underneath the covers, relaxing into the plush rocking mattress.

He could hear the sound of the water running in the bathroom, white noise to his thoughts as Steve spread out across the bed, taking as much space as possible before going boneless and sinking into the mattress. If cruises were this comfortable, he ought to go on them more often. Knowing Tony, though, he would probably buy the entire cruise line if Steve so much as mentioned wanting to go again.  _ The only thing that would make this moment any more perfect is a waterbed _ , Steve thought.

The silk sheets felt great against his skin, and he was inwardly pleased that Fury had booked them the honeymoon suite on the cruise. While he had made the excuse of it being a part of their cover, Steve knew it was because this room was the best and that was what Tony Stark dealt in.

Steve allowed his thoughts to drift away from work and towards Peggy and what she had said at the end of his visit. She claimed that Tony loved him, and while Steve wanted so badly for it to be true, he was also reluctant to accept her words as fact. Tony was such a great friend, always in sync on the field and off, a perfect partner and every bit a perfect match for Steve. He didn’t know if he could jeopardize all of that for the chance at a relationship, no matter how desperately he longed to hold Tony in his arms and call him his own.

Steve’s thumb absentmindedly slid over the wedding band on his right hand. He’d love to wear one for real. He briefly wondered if Tony would go for something cliche like a Claddagh ring, extravagant like a diamond, or eccentric like vibranium. Heaving a deep sigh that only pinning people can accomplish, Steve wrenched his thoughts away from his best friend.

He heard the water shut off, and Tony’s quiet humming filled the silence. On anyone else it would have been grating but Tony’s hummed rendition of “Enter Sandman,” - and Steve had been spending too much time with Tony if he could recognize the tune - was surprisingly endearing. The door squeaked opened, and Steve heard Tony’s sharp inhale. A second later, he was running across the hardwood, if the slapping off his feet were any indicator. Steve wasn’t surprised when Tony jumped into bed landing on him with a soft whump. Chin smacking into Steve’s collarbone and knees digging into the soft parts of his thighs. Steve laughed as Tony rolled off him, his eyes bright and his hair a wild mess of golden curls as he let out a small chuckle of his own.

Steve moved all his limbs to one side of the bed to give Tony room as he squirmed his way under the plush covers. He grinned turning on his side to face Tony, who had removed his contacts and glasses. His tired brown gaze still held the remnants of amusement in the small, beautiful wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He was focused on Steve, his full lips quirked into a grin, and he looked so impossibly young that Steve’s brain immediately started up a chant of jail bait even though Tony was older than him.

“Hey, are you listening to me?” Steve felt Tony’s cold toes brush against his shin, and he focused on what the genius was trying to tell him. “We need a cover story, how we met.”

“You’re a friend from work,” Steve murmured, snuggling into his pillow, his eyes fluttering shut. The light from Tony’s reactor bathed him in a soft glow that Steve absolutely adored. He’d always wanted to study it up close, but Tony was self conscious enough about it already.

“So we’re both first responders,” Steve watched a grin spread across Tony’s face as he reached down to pull a second blanket over the both of them. “Firefighters because we’re hot.”

Steve rolled his eyes. Tony was nothing if not too clever for his own good, but he amused himself. Tony rolled onto his front, tucking his hands under his pillow. Steve knew it was one of the few positions that didn’t painfully press the full weight of the arc reactor further into his chest against his lungs. Steve listened to his breathing slowly even out as his eyes fluttered closed before he allowed the rocking of the boat to lull him into a dreamless sleep after Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you call Tony Stark's laptop when you throw it in the ocean?  
> Adele: Rolling in the Deep


	4. Chapter 4

When Steve woke up at six the next morning, he was pressed against Tony’s back with one of his hands slid under him to cup the arc reactor protectively. Steve inhaled, his nose pressed to Tony’s shoulder. He probably wouldn’t be up for another hour, or three. 

The hand that wasn’t cradling Tony’s life support was wound around his waist, the flat of his palm pressed against the hard ridges of Tony’s lower abdomen. It pushed their hips together in a way that was surprisingly intimate, and Steve could just imagine Tony’s blush when he woke up. Despite everything, he couldn’t bring himself to relinquish his hold on his best friend. He buried his nose in Tony’s hair, which smelled of coconut shampoo with the underlying hint of sweat and grease, like everything Steve loved wrapped up in a combination of laughter and safety and home.

“St’ve,” Tony mumbled, pressing himself further back into Steve until they were molded together from shoulder to knee. He felt tentative fingers cover his hand, and Steve let out a soft exhale as Tony all but melted into him with a relaxed sigh. His grip tightened on Steve’s hand until their fingers laced together, and Tony muttered something even his augmented hearing couldn’t pick up. 

As much as he wanted to stay like this forever, Steve knew that eventually Tony would come to his senses and be horribly embarrassed about the closeness he had allowed himself with his best friend. He pressed his nose into Tony’s shoulder, brushing his lips against his neck; not wanting to leave, but knowing he should. Also, Steve desperately needed to go to the bathroom. 

“I’m going to grab you coffee,” Steve gently slid his arm out from under Tony before carefully untangling their legs. Tony rolled over onto his front, shivering when Steve tossed the covers off him so he could get up. He turned around to tuck Tony back into bed, his smile softening at his box-dyed blond curls splayed in a radiant golden halo across the pillow.

Steve relieved himself and brushed his teeth quickly. He rubbed a tired hand across his chin, feeling three days worth of course stubble scratch his fingers and pondered how well it worked as a disguise. Steve pulled open his suitcase and yanked on a pair of khaki shorts and a turquoise polo. While the outfit was not his normal style, Steve supposed that was the point of the whole different wardrobe.

He grabbed his key card off the bedside table along with Tony’s wallet, slipping them both into his pocket. He shut the door gently behind him and made his way towards to the coffee bar he had seen on their way in the previous night.

It was a cozy shop with a small wooden stand. Comfy chairs with colourful pastel pillows overlooked the expansive party deck and the beautiful ocean beyond. The shop was deserted, save for a blonde woman manning the counter and a dark-haired man sitting in the back with his nose buried in a newspaper. Steve stepped up to give the perky barista his order.

“May I please get a tall blond and a venti black eye no cream?” She smiled at him as she mixed both drinks, leaning over the counter to look Steve up and down. She served him up his drinks with exaggerated enthusiasm and a wink.

He dropped a twenty on the counter and grabbed both the heavenly smelling drinks. The serum negated any effects coffee would have on his systems, but habit and close proximity to Tony had gotten his taste buds accustomed to the warm beverage in the mornings.

Steve took an indulgent sip, letting the warmth settle in his belly. The smell reminded him of lazy Saturday mornings spent sketching in Tony’s penthouse and enjoying the genius’ presence beside him as the news played in the background. 

He was about to turn around when he felt warm arms slide around his waist and a face pressed between his shoulder blades. Steve tensed up, but when he looked down, he recognized the scarred fingers and matching wedding band. Tony.

“What are you doing out of bed?” Steve relaxed back into Tony, feeling him press his nose against his spine before standing on the tips of his toes to press a kiss to the space behind his jaw just under his ear. Steve felt an involuntary shiver run down his spine as he wound his fingers with Tony’s.

“Pirate gave us the 411,” Tony nipped at Steve’s ear to disguise the whispered words as he tapped his watch. Steve looked down at the face where a name and a mugshot appeared on the small screen.

“Got it,” Steve nodded, using his grip on Tony’s hand to spin them around so he could face the smaller man. Tony was wearing his contacts, the brilliant blue emphasised by his short sleeve button down shirt, the same colour as Steve’s polo. His tiny white shorts clung to his thighs in a way that Steve decided should be a sin. He blinked a couple of times before realising that Tony was looking at him expectantly. “How are we going to find him on this ship?”

Tony reached around him to fish his wallet out of Steve’s back pocket. He flipped it open but didn’t step back from invading Steve’s personal space. “Take this,” Tony pressed a small metal disk into his hand gently kissing Steve’s fingers to disguise the motion and the accompanying words. Steve ran his finger over the cool device and tucked it into his pocket. “Stick it in the USB port of one of the employee computers. They’re using shitty Macs, so the port should be behind the monitor.”

Steve nodded, it should be easy enough. He handed Tony his coffee, and they split up with a quick excuse for anyone close enough to hear as Tony headed back to their room to set up his computer.

Steve figured guest information would probably have some computers, so he just had to head down to the one on their deck. Tony had carefully slipped a comm into his ear, so he listened in as he babbled to JARVIS on his phone.

“Alright, Steve,” Tony addressed him, “where are you headed?”

Steve strode down a hallway, trying to make his steps look casual instead of purposeful. A cold breeze blew in from the water, raising goosebumps on his arms. 

“Guest services,” Steve tried to keep his mouth closed as he talked in an attempt to look inconspicuous. A woman and her husband passed them, shooting Steve a warm smile. He returned it with a short wave.

“Alright, let me know when you put it in,” Tony responded, the clacking of keys a background to his words.

“That’s what she said,” Steve responded with a smile. And that confirmed it, Steve had been spending way too much time with Tony binge watching  T he Office in the penthouse living room.

Tony laughed brightly, the sound music to Steve’s ears as he navigated the hallways. The place was mostly empty; hardly anyone on vacation woke up at the crack of dawn, and Steve found himself wishing that their trip had been for pleasure rather than business.

“Okay, I have my laptop set up, and I can see your location.” The words were followed by the comforting clack of keys that Steve didn’t normally associate with Tony and the holograms he preferred to use.

Steve made it to the guest services desk where a short blonde woman, her name tag reading Yelena, was furiously tapping away at a keyboard, her brows furrowed. She looked up at him with a warm smile, “Good afternoon, sir, how may I help you?”

“Hi,” Steve coupled it with an awkward wave. “My husband and I were wondering about some of your onboard activities...” He trailed off trying to employ his most confused puppy dog expression shoving his hands in his pocket gripping the USB. He could see an open port, he just needed a distraction.

“Of course!” Yelena beamed up at him her hands gesticulating wildly. “We have a multitude of things for the both of you to do while you’re sailing with us.” She picked up a book from underneath the desk - too quick for Steve to stick Tony’s device in the USB port - and pulled it open. “Were you hoping to do something fun? Romantic? Sexy?”

“Uhh,” Steve tried not to let his mouth fall open. Stumbling over his words. “I’m not sure?” He could feel his cheeks heating. At this point, he didn’t know why anyone let him in the field, he could do battle strategy but definitely not espionage. He could hear Tony’s soft laughter through the comms.

“That’s okay,” she beamed up at him as she flipped through the book. “You guys can go swimming, take dance lessons, learn how to give massages.” She coupled her last suggestion with a wink, and if it were even possible, Steve felt his cheeks get even hotter.

“My husband hates swimming,” Steve looked down at the book. Tony could dance right? Peggy mentioned that, and Steve wanted to learn. “Maybe dance lessons? He can dance pretty well, but I have two left feet.”

Yelena cooed at him as she typed some more on her computer. “Do you want to go every night? From seven to eight?”

“Sure,” Steve shot her a warm smile. He could hear Tony in the background saying something inappropriate about dancing, but he ignored it.

“What’s your last name?” She turned to him brows raised, her hands poised over the keyboard

Steve barely caught himself from saying Rogers. “It’s Brooks,” he paused again shaking his head, “Carbonell-Brooks.” He laughed, “It’s so hard getting used to the married name, ya know?”

Yelena nodded as she typed in his name bringing up his information. “Grant and Edward?” Steve nodded, and a few clicks later, she was printing out sheets. She turned around to grab the papers out of the printer, and Steve took the opportunity to jam the device into the port at the back of the computer. When Yelena turned back around, he shot her an innocent smile as she shuffled the papers in front of her. “Alright, the lessons will be charged to your room.”

“Thank you so much!” Steve reached over to shake her hand, and she handed him the papers before gripping his hand tightly.

“I’m in,” Tony informed him over the comms, and Steve let out a slow exhale. That wasn’t so bad.

“Enjoy the dance lessons, Steve!”

It wasn’t until he was halfway back to his and Tony’s suite that it hit him. She had used his real name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did the ocean say to the spy?  
> The name's Bond. Hydrogen Bond.


	5. Chapter 5

“I don’t have anything about a girl named Yelena in the database, but hopefully we can get the word out and have some investigating done. We’ll talk to Nat and Clint when it’s morning in New York and see if they’ve encountered her on one of their Europe missions. Don’t worry, Steve,” Tony soothed, “you did perfect out there.

Steve was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands as Tony gently rubbed his back. They had hacked into the system, and Tony was running a surveillance program to track down any known SHIELD hostiles aboard the ship, including the man that Fury had given them word on. “It hasn’t even been a day, and I’ve already blown my cover.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about this, Steve, it happens to the best of us.” Tony propped his chin on Steve’s shoulder. “If she snitches, then we request immediate extraction and blow this popsicle stand. I can buy you cruise tickets, or a cruise ship, and you can take a real vacation.”

Steve scrubbed his hands down his face before looking up at Tony. “I’m really sorry I blew it.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me,” Tony smiled, and Steve felt his heart swoop in his chest. “I am not mad at you. You’re doing your very best, and no one could ever be mad at you for that.”

“Okay” Steve nodded before letting out a long, shaky exhale. “Thank you, Tony.”

“What are friends for?” Tony grinned before reaching over Steve for the TV remote. The screen mounted to the wall flickered to life, and Tony pulled up the guide. “We have two hours to kill before the breakfast buffet, do you feel like watching TV?”

“Sure,” Steve leaned back into the couch propping his feet up on to the coffee table. He threw his free arm over the back of the couch with a sigh. Tony didn’t hesitate to curl into the warmth of Steve’s side as he settled on a channel playing reruns of Friends.

“So, dance lessons?” Steve felt Tony’s laugh vibrating through his chest as he tilted his chin up to rest on Steve’s shoulder. “Last time I asked you to dance, you told me no.” Steve felt him shift further into his side as he tucked his feet under him.

Steve looked down at his feet propped up on the coffee table, a blush rising to his cheeks. “I got my dance with Peggy yesterday.”

“Oh Steve,” Tony laid a hand on his chest, and Steve enjoyed the warm weight of it. “I’m sorry I asked, you don’t have to tell me.”

Steve’s laugh was wet as he thought about his missed chance with her. “She told me you could teach me.” He tilted his cheek into Tony’s hair; it still smelled of motor oil and grease, despite the fact that Tony had spent more than 24 hours away from the lab.

“Of course,” Tony whispered.

Steve closed his eyes, trying not to be creepy as he breathed in the smell of Tony, his quiet laughter vibrating against Steve’s chest as the voice on the television insisted “WE WERE ON A BREAK.” He’d be lucky to have this as long as he could. 

He was close to falling asleep against Tony when there was a knock at the door. Tony’s head immediately shot up, and his warmth disappeared from Steve’s side. They shared a concerned look as they both sprang into action. Steve slid his shield out of its canvas bag heading to the door to look out the peephole. It was the woman from earlier, Yelena. He relayed that much to Tony as silently as possible.

“I’ll answer, we can draw her into the room and persuade her to be silent,” Tony murmured in a tone that only Steve’s augmented hearing could pick up. He rested his hand on the doorknob squaring his shoulders and rolling out his wrists.

Steve nodded his assent, standing beside the doorway in a defense position with his shield in front of him. He made eye contact with Tony, who shot him an encouraging smile before twisting the knob. Tony pulled the door open and greeted Yelena, one of his plastic, award winning grins. “Hey, how may I help you?”

“Mr Carbonell-Brooks!” Yelena’s voice was dripping with fake enthusiasm. “I just saw your husband, and he mentioned that you both were on your honeymoon.” She thrust a bag toward him. Steve only saw her hands from the doorway. “Congratulations, these are compliments of the cruise line!”

Tony accepted an elegant looking silver platter and a light blue paper gift bag. “Thank you so much!” Tony squealed, and  _ wow _ was he good at this whole acting thing. Steve hated that it was his lifestyle that gave him so much practice. Tony turned around, walking slowly toward the coffee table. “Grant’s going to be so excited when he gets back. He loves surprises, and I love him.”

Steve’s heart stuttered to a stop in his chest, and his gaze immediately shot to his best friend. He had sounded so painfully sincere. It was so casual how he said it that Steve almost forgot that they were pretending.

“I’m sure he will be quite surprised.” Steve heard the tell-tale click of a releasing safety even before Yelena stepped further into the room with a gun aimed at Tony’s head. She got a face full of vibranium before she could even aim, and Tony hadn’t even flinched, didn’t even turn around.

Steve found that trust so unbelievably arousing that he had to stave off the most inappropriately timed boner mankind had ever experienced.

Tony set the gifts on the coffee table before turning to smile at Steve. A real grin that made Steve’s heart pound in his chest. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Tony crossed the room and looked down the hallway before shutting the door firmly and twisting the deadbolt. “Yeah,” he repeated, “I’m fine. You had my back, like always.” Tony snatched the pistol up off the floor with a frown. Finally he opened up the cartridge to find it empty. The chamber had nothing in it either. “The hell?”

“Probably just to threaten us,” Steve mused as he stepped over Yelena’s unmoving body with a scowl. “We better tie her up.” Steve suggested as he checked her pulse. She had a steady heartbeat, so Steve wasn’t worried about having injured her too badly.

“Restraints?” Steve looked up to find Tony wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Kinky.”

Steve only rolled his eyes in response as he pulled an ironing board out of the closet. It wasn’t the best idea, but desperate times…

Steve was grateful for the decorative rope on the walls - who knew sailing knot aesthetics would prove so useful? - as he tied Yelena’s arms to the legs of the ironing board before the junction. He wasn’t sure that the metal structure wouldn’t give under the pressure of Yelena tugging on it, though. He might just have to get Tony to sit on it during the interrogation they were sure to have. He smirked at the thought of Tony sitting on the ironing board like a throne.

Tony kicked at Yelena’s leg to wake her up as Steve made an intimidating face behind him. “Get up, you hooligan.” Steve resisted the urge to snort as Tony made a ridiculously adorable face.

Yelena groaned, her head lolling as she blinked awake. It took less than a handful of seconds before she was glaring at Tony from behind a choppy curtain of golden hair. “I don’t know what SHIELD was thinking when they sent you two idiots to recover the information packet.”

Steve and Tony shared a confused look before Steve spoke up. “Information packet?”

“They didn’t even tell you what you’re here to intercept?” Yelena raised an eyebrow before laughing, a grating sound that made Steve’s hair stand on end. “My intel suggests there will be a selling of information regarding research on the super soldier serum and one Steven Grant Rogers.” 

Steve felt a burst of indignation swell in his chest. He was sick and tired of SHIELD leaving out details that could be helpful to the mission. Their reconnaissance mission that had somehow turned into an information recovery.

“Why are you here?” Tony folded his arms across his chest, shoulders tense as he glared down at Yelena. Steve tried to hold back a pleased shiver as Tony shifted his weight, drawing Steve’s eyes to his muscular thighs, accentuated by his shorts.

“The people I work for would much rather have SHIELD in possession of the information than HYDRA.” She spat out the word like it was a sickness, and Steve found himself nodding along. “I would very much like to ensure the success of your mission. I don’t need super soldiers to clean up on top of SHIELD’s incompetence.”

Tony’s laptop pinged, startling the two of them, and Steve backed up towards the couch without taking his eyes off of Yelena. He picked up the laptop, bringing it over to Tony before stepping in between them.

There was a weird sliding sound, one Steve recognized as Tony converting his laptop into a tablet, before he was was rounding Steve to show Yelena the screen. It was the man Tony had shown him on his watch earlier. Facial recognition had pinged him leaving the coffee bar. Steve recognized his outfit, placing him as the guy who had been sitting in the corner reading the paper. “What does your intel say about him?” 

“That is professor Garrett, he’s a biologist,” Yelena shrugged nonchalantly. It almost felt like she had all the power despite sitting tied up to an ironing board on the floor. ”I don’t know much else, but I know he currently has possession of the information, and that he will be learning to ballroom dance tonight - just like the two of you - to meet a middle man.”

Tony turned the laptop back to him, pulling up the SHIELD database to search for recent hits on Garrett. Steve would probably have to stop him from sending a strongly worded email to Nick Fury later.

Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “If you know all of this, why not intercept the package yourself?” Steve raised an eyebrow at her. 

“I’m just trying to rack up some good karma,” Yelena cryptically responded, smirking at both of them. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she stood up, dropping the ropes Steve had painstakingly tied tightly around her wrists as if they were water off a duck’s back. She laughed at their shocked faces before putting her arms up in submission, “I’m not gonna hurt you, I just need to get going, and this is taking too long.”

Steve hesitated, glancing at Tony who shrugged and nodded. He crossed his arms over his chest stepping in front of him to shield him from Yelena’s view.  “If we both want the same thing, why come in here and threaten us?”

“Just wanted to see how much you guys know, and also to have a little fun. You boys are always so stuffy.” Yelena snorted derisively as she headed for the door. “Besides, someone needs to keep you both from getting distracted.”

“Distracted?” Steve’s brows furrowed as Tony let out a dismayed squeak behind him.

“And tell your Russian friend, Yelena says hi,” she waved over her shoulder as she disappeared out the door, leaving a confused and shocked Steve and Tony behind.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tony called after Yelena. The slam of the door was the only response they got.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why doesn't the ocean laugh at jokes?  
> Because it isn't a fan of dry humour.


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful as Tony argued back and forth with Fury, and Steve tried to formulate a plan for the evening. They ordered room service instead of going out to the breakfast bar and stayed inside reading up on whatever Tony could dig up regarding Garrett and his known associates.

All Steve had gotten from the science journal Tony had dug up was that the man loved horses, perhaps a little too much, if some of the things he said about equestrians were to be believed. The rest was all a scientific mish mash that made little sense to Steve and even Tony, but they sent it to Bruce for translating and was promised a response from him by the time they got back from their dance lessons.

Steve was absolutely positive that the notes Garrett had on him were incomplete considering there were aspects of the serum that even he didn’t know. Fury had given him hell for it, but Tony had even hacked into SHIELD and deleted some of their information on Steve. Despite this, Tony was surprisingly set on making sure that whatever knowledge Garrett had would never see the light of day.

Tony had tried several times to get a secure line to the tower, but apparently both Clint and Natasha were unhelpfully unavailable while cleaning up a late night call and wouldn’t be back home until it was almost time for Steve and Tony to leave for their dance lessons and espionage.   

Tingles ran down Steve’s spine as he dressed in a light red shirt and khakis for dance lessons that night. He carefully combed his hair to the side and brushed his teeth, reveling in the minty fresh taste of his mouth. Tony had gotten halfway through putting on his pants when he got distracted with his laptop so he was sitting in his boxers, tan slacks halfway up his left leg and crimson shirt forgotten as his fingers flew across the keyboard. It was probably the most adorable thing Steve had ever seen in his entire life.

“We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry up,” Steve gently reminded him as he stepped out of the bathroom and sat beside Tony on the couch to put on his socks and shoes before casting a glance over the genius’ shoulder.

“Spy twins just got back, I’m almost finished establishing a secure connection to the tower,” Tony accessed a private server, a video box popping up with Clint and Natasha’s faces. “There we go,” Tony grinned waving at the two assassins.

“Stark,” Clint wrinkled his nose at the screen as Natasha settled onto the leather couch beside him, “Would it kill you to put on a shirt sometime?”

“Fuck you, Barton, I’m on my honeymoon” The words sent sharp arousal rocketing through Steve’s chest as Tony stuck his other leg in his pants and shimmied them up his body. “I can wear damn well what I please.”

Natasha snorted as Steve choked on his own spit. Tony settled down beside him reaching across the back of the couch for his shirt and buttoning it up his chest. 

“So did you two lovebirds just call us to flex about your free vacation? Or…?” Natasha trailed off with a cocked eyebrow as she eyed the both of them with amusement dancing in her eyes.

“No, we actually have intel we wanted to get a look up on,” Tony buttoned his shirt up to his throat doing up his cufflinks. “Scary blonde woman named Yelena?”

Nat’s eyes went wide, “Yelena Belova?” It was the first time Tony had ever seen the redhead look shocked and mildly startled. Even Clint was slack jawed as he turned to look at her.

“Is there an echo,” Tony teasingly squinted at Nat, and Steve shoved him playfully.

“Yeah,” Steve side-eyed Tony with an amused smirk before continuing, “She recognized us. Well, me.” Steve looked down at his lap as a blush rose to his cheeks. Tony patted him on the back. ”Then she tried to threaten Tony with a gun.” He held up a hand as Tony tried to protest, “I don’t care that it was unloaded. Anyway, I knocked her out with my shield, and we tied her up to question her.”

“She let you,” Natasha interrupted with a frown on her face. “Belova was trained harder than I was. If you were able to subdue her, she’s either terribly out of practice, injured, or she let you tie her up for her own benefit.”

“Motherfucker,” Tony exhaled, looking like he’d been punched in the gut. He pulled at his collar, looking uncomfortably around the room.

“Okay, so we avoid conflict with her,” Steve frowned running a comforting hand across Tony’s back, feeling the tense muscles beneath his fingertips. Yelena was just one more variable in a sea of equations that Steve would never be able to put together. He hated this whole not knowing who was good and who was bad. Operating on a need to know basis always annoyed him. It’s why he tried to stay away from working with Nat and Clint. With Tony, he never had to wonder about whether or not his partner was hiding vital information from him. 

“I’ll send you everything I have on her,” Natasha was already waving a hand at JARVIS, “I kept paper copies of everything because Belova is particularly skilled at hacking.” She glanced at the screen. “Probably even better than you, Tony.”

Steve glanced at the uneasy expression on Tony’s face. He was pressing his fingers against where the arc reactor sat in his chest, rubbing it uncomfortably. Steve slid a hand across his knee and turned back to the computer screen. “We’ll be sure to avoid her.”

“Okay, well, that’s all we needed,” Tony grinned at the spy twins, though his smile was dishearteningly plastic in a way that made Steve’s chest ache for the real one. Steve squeezed his knee one last time before dropping his hand. “We better get going before Nat takes any more shots at my ego.”

“Bye, guys, ” Steve waved at his friends with an uneasy smile. He hated being away from them on missions, but it was necessary for ensuring the safety and security of the American population. He loved his job, but his family would always come first.

Tony blew kisses at them before disconnecting the call and wiping the server off the web along with the stored cache of their conversation. He ran a hand down his face with an annoyed groan. “JARVIS, prep for file incoming and upload to offsite server with the highest security.”

“Will do, sir,” JARVIS’s tinny voice responded from Tony’s phone. “Would you also like us to print copies to your offsite location and fax them to your west coast residence for safekeeping?”

“Yes, please,” Tony picked up his phone tapping away to get the file recipient ready for when Nat copied and sent the documents over. “What would I do without you, JARVIS?”

“Okay,” Steve stood turning around to hold his hand out for Tony with a playful grin. It was time to shed the stress of their superhero personas and fully immerse themselves in Grant and Edward. “Ready to catch some criminals?”

Tony grabbed on to his hand, allowing Steve to pull him up. “I was born ready, Cap.”

They laced their fingers together heading out the door and down to the dance hall. Steve wished that he could hold Tony’s small, calloused hand in his forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why was the ocean so upset?  
> He was feeling a little beachy today.


	7. Chapter 7

While the swing dancing and the Charleston had been fun, Steve had to admit that this was his favourite. Tony’s head was resting on his shoulder, nose pressed into his neck. Steve enjoyed the soft puff of his breath across his throat, Tony’s left hand on his shoulder a warm comfort. His augmented hearing picked up the steady whirr of the arc reactor pushed against his chest.

The jovial band had left them, and the ballroom speakers were currently blasting a playlist of what Steve recognized as some of the songs that annoyed Tony the most. Currently playing was Coldplay, and Steve found himself humming the strong melody of Viva La Vida.

Steve had his right hand slotted against the dip of Tony’s lower back, his index finger drawing circles around the curve of his spine. Steve gently pressed him closer until their hips molded together, and Tony let out a sleepy murmur. 

“Yeah, I know, doll,” Steve dropped a kiss to the gentle slope of Tony’s shoulder, surprised when Tony tilted his chin up to brush his lips against Steve’s neck. He reveled in the feeling as his eyes followed Professor Garrett to the bar. “We just gotta see if we can pick up a name or location.”

“Standing at the bar?” Steve felt Tony’s lips against his neck more than he actually heard the murmured words themselves. He nodded, running his fingers over Tony’s right hand in his left. The weight of the ring around his finger a steady reminder of his duty to his teammate. Tony lifted his head blinking sleepily up at Steve. “Let’s get a drink before we turn in.”

Steve smiled, catching on as he let Tony tug on their joined hands leading him to the bar. “What are you feeling like?”

“Hey, can we get two waters no ice with a wedge of lemon?” Tony allowed Steve to wrap his arms around him from behind as the bartender shot them a confused look before serving them up their drinks with a tired shrug.

“We’re on a cleanse,” Steve explained as he listened carefully to the conversation occuring beside him.

Tony took a couple sips of his drink before turning in the circle of Steve’s arms, sliding his hands up Steve’s shoulders and around his neck. He gently curled his fingers into the soft hairs at the base of his skull as Steve allowed himself to be pulled down until Tony had his lips against his throat, sucking a mark into the skin that would unfortunately be gone by morning. Steve shifted trying to inconspicuously get closer to the conversation he was trying to eavesdrop on.

It took everything in him to ignore the way Tony was nipping across his jaw, fingers biting into his shoulder, and focus his augmented hearing on their target whispering on the other end of the bar. “We have to get Stern on this ASAP, and make sure the package gets to Bateman tomorrow morning.”

“Jasper?” There was an annoyed scoff from Garrett, “Is that dumbass is still running around pretending to be Slaym-” Steve filed away the name Jasper Bateman for later, almost losing his train of thought as Tony scraped his teeth against his adam’s apple.

“Woah, not in decent  _ civilian _ company,” Garrett’s companion chastised. Steve almost rolled his eyes, if only they knew.

“Those two are far from decent,” Garrett snorted derisively. Tony brushed his lips against the shell of Steve’s ear, and he let out a groan to punctuate the words as both men chuckled at their expense. Steve tried to get his grip back on the shiver that threatened to rip through him. He heard the sound of them getting up, their voices fading as they left the ballroom.

“Whatever, just get the package to Bateman tomorrow morning so we can get the hell off this ship, I’m starting to get seasick.”

Steve almost whined when Tony gently pulled away setting his chin on his shoulder. Steve moved forward to drop a kiss on his cheek as Tony watched the two men exit. He thankfully didn’t say anything about the unnecessary display of affection.

“Are you two done yet?” Steve’s eyes snapped up to look at the bartender who was wiping down the countertop with a smirk on his face. “I get off the hook if we empty out early. Besides maybe you ought to take that intense necking back to your room.”

“Here,” Tony dropped a couple of twenties on the countertop before stuffing his wallet back in his pocket and looping his arm through Steve’s, lacing their fingers tightly together. “Have a nice night.”

They hurried back to their room, Tony tapping at his phone with his free hand. “So we have a name,” Tony murmured as he unlocked the door to their room. He swiftly undid the buttons on his cuffs before rolling up his sleeves to expose wiry forearms as he frowned.

“Yeah, Jasper Bateman,” Steve corroborated dumbly, his neck still tingling at the memory of Tony’s lips against his skin. He paused a second longer before blurting out, “I think I’m going to shower.”

Tony’s eyes shot to his, brows furrowed in confusion and what looked a little like hurt. He was sitting on the couch, his fingers frozen on the keyboard of his booting up laptop. “Don’t let me stop you, Steve.”

Steve fished a fresh pair of boxers out of his suitcase before heading to the bathroom. It still smelled of Tony’s aftershave. He stopped to look at the red bite marks across his neck, the small developing bruise under his ear. He sighed, turning on the cold water. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Tony’s fingers were flying across his keyboard when Steve finally made it out of the shower, a lot less keyed up. He paused in the doorway, watching the pure genius in Tony’s eyes. He had migrated from the couch to the bed where he was sitting cross legged in just his boxers with the covers pulled up around his shoulders like a cape

He barely glanced up at Steve before he began speaking “Bruce got back to us. There wasn’t much in the journals other than his qualifications about his PhD in biology. I went through the SHIELD database, and we have a hit on Jasper Bateman, but it’s not much.” Tony patted the bed beside him, and Steve crossed the room to sit beside him and peer over his shoulder. Tony had a SHIELD info page pulled up and a dossier on Bateman. “I’m gonna notify Fury and have our intel updated.”

“Also ask about extraction,” Steve murmured as he fluffed his pillow, getting ready for bed. “I don’t think we should really stick around after we intercept the intel tomorrow morning. Yelena is making me nervous.”

“You can say that again,” Tony responded as he tacked on a getaway message at the end of his update. Steve found the clack of keys comforting as he pulled the blanket around his shoulders too, arm brushing against Tony’s and sending shivers down his spine.

“We’re going to be docking in Italy tomorrow at noon, right?” Steve had caught a glance at the schedule when he had first boarded the ship. “We should get off with the package, say we’re spending the day in the city.”

“Well, we don’t really have a location for package interception.” Tony gestured at his laptop which seemed to be monitoring some type of frequencies. “I have tapped all communications on board though, so if something happens, it’s going through this computer and being filtered by Jarvis in real time. We should know almost immediately.”

“Okay,” Steve relaxed into Tony’s side, “I think this is good, what we have so far. I think the breakfast restaurant is probably the most likely option because it’ll be the most crowded.” 

“As a last resort, we can always try Yelena.”

Steve thought back to the tight grip of fear around his heart at seeing the Russian assassin aiming a gun at Tony’s head. Loaded or not, it was still a very real threat. If Steve had his way, she would never see Tony ever again. “I don’t trust her at all.”

Tony sighed leaning into Steve, “I don’t either, but as long as we’re useful to each other, she’s not going to try and hurt us. I think we should give it a shot.”

“Sure thing,” Steve said, unable to refuse Tony much of anything. As he watched Tony tap out the rest of his debrief message to SHIELD, he couldn’t help the feeling of uselessness that washed over him. “Dancing took a lot out of me, is it okay if I hit the sack early.?”

“Yeah, sure,” Tony closed his laptop setting it down on the bedside table before arranging the bed sheets so that the covers were thrown over them both. He leaned over to hit the light switch before snuggling down in his pillow. Steve studied his face, beautiful in the combined light from the porthole and his chest.

“Good night, Tony,” he whispered, eyes sliding over his lashes, across the bridge of his perfect nose. There was a barely there scar just above his eyebrow. Steve wouldn’t know it was there if he hadn’t seen Tony get it helping a cat out of a tree in Central Park, of all things. Steve tried not to giggle as he thought of Tony, holding the beautiful Persian cat with the most offended look on his face.

“I can feel you watching me,” Tony’s eyes fluttered open with a playful grin, before shifting up higher in the pillows so light from the arc reactor could illuminate both their faces in a brilliant blue. “What’s on your mind, oh captain, my captain?”

“Nothing,” Steve shrugged as Tony’s brown gaze bore into him. “I just really like it out here. I didn’t think I’d appreciate being out on the water. Not after going in the ice. I didn’t think you would like it either, considering the whole thing you went through,” Steve shifted as Tony frowned. “But I really like being here. It’s relaxing, peaceful.” The  _ with you _ went unsaid as Steve snaked a hand out to brush through Tony’s hair. It was far from friendly, but Steve was too tired to really care as he slid his fingers through the soft dyed blond curls.

“Thank you for booking us dancing,” Tony murmured, his fingers wrapping around Steve’s wrist. “I had a lot of fun, and you didn’t even step on my toes.”

Steve laughed as Tony grinned at him. He wished they could go on a cruise without the pressure of a mission, just be together and enjoy each other’s company. Steve wished so badly for their relationship to be real. For Tony to love him so that Steve could show him how he deserved to be loved. “Thank you for taking a chance on me.”

“Always,” Tony whispered, the words washing over Steve like a gentle wave. He murmured a “good night, Steve,” before brushing his lips across the ring on his fingers. But Steve was already asleep, and he couldn’t tell if he had dreamed it up or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did the ocean ask another ocean on a date?  
> He asked him “Water you doing tonight?”


	8. Chapter 8

Steve loved waking up like this, with Tony’s box-dyed blond hair in his face, and their bodies pressed against each other. With a sigh, Steve turned his head to glance at the clock on the nightstand. This was usually when he’d go for his morning run, but there wasn’t really anywhere to go on a cruise ship

He snuggled back into Tony, inhaling the warm smell of his coconut shampoo and the lingering scent of grease that always seemed to cling to his skin. Tony still had his fingers curled around his wrist, Steve’s arms wound around his waist with a hand raised to cradle the arc reactor.

He pushed his knees up and into the back of Tony’s legs until they were molded together from shoulder to hip. Steve didn’t want to ever leave their bed but as the early rays of sunlight glinted through the porthole, he figured someone would need to go and get Tony his morning coffee.

“I think today’s a graphic tee day,” Tony’s soft groggy voice startled Steve out of his thoughts and soon the smaller man was rolling over so they were facing each other, legs tangled together in the sheets, “don’t you?”

Steve took in Tony, eyes heavy with sleep and face young and open. His blond curls were a bird’s nest, shoulders a beautiful relaxed line.

“I brought a dinosaur t-shirt,” Steve told him helpfully as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, “if we go black bottoms and cute graphic tops we can make all the other couples jealous with how perfectly coordinated we look.” Steve still had his arms around Tony, but neither of them said anything about it as Tony closed his eyes, laying his head down on the pillow, soft breath against Steve’s bare chest.

Steve was really glad that Tony hadn’t made a big deal about the snuggling. He was always really cuddly when he was asleep and while he and Tony had shared a bed in the past, it had never been this bad. KHe loved being cozied up against Tony and he was grateful that he didn’t read into it to much and demand an explanation that Steve would never be able to give him.

“Stay here, we can get coffee together later,” Tony mumbled reading Steve’s thoughts perfectly as he debated getting out of bed like yesterday and heading down to the coffee bar.

Steve huffed out a chuckle as he settled back into the pillows, eyes roaming up the expanse of Tony’s bare chest. He averted his gaze, if he stared too long his morning wood could get the wrong idea and the last thing he’d be able to do was hide a raging boner from Tony when they were still warmly pressed together under the sheets.

Steve’s eyes trailed around the room searching for a distraction as he slid one hand up Tony’s back and into his hair. It would probably be best to get out of bed. Steve sighed before leaning forward, “I think I want coffee now.”

Tony whined as he got out of bed with Steve, which he honestly thought was worse than getting out of bed on his own. Tony was noticeably half hard and unashamed as he followed Steve to the bathroom for his toothbrush. They stood side by side in the mirror to brush their teeth, Steve avoiding Tony’s beautiful brown eyes as he willed away his interest. If Tony noticed, he didn’t say anything about it, instead choosing to make garbled conversation around his toothbrush.

Steve laughed, spitting in the sink before gargling. He didn’t have to shave but Tony did so he excused himself from the bathroom to give the genius some privacy to relieve himself and shave off his stubble.

He dug through his bag for his black acid wash jeans and his pink graphic tee. It was a ridiculous screen print of a t-rex holding Captain America’s shield but Tony had seen it while they were out shopping one time and couldn’t resist buying it for Steve. That was the same time he had bought an unholy amount of cat t-shirts, filling his closet with more and more ridiculous slogans and pictures to puzzle the paparazzi when they did manage to recognize him outside the tower.

Steve got dressed quickly, pulling on his flip flops and then waiting for tony to get out of the bathroom so he could use it. When Tony finally emerged he had his contacts in and glasses on, wide blue eyes ready to greet the day and drive Steve crazy. Steve loved him best when he was like this, young and open, eyes sparkling with a beautiful glimmer of intelligence.

Tony occupied himself with his laptop as Steve used the bathroom. Washing his hands and smoothing down his hair in the mirror. He grinned at his reflection, running his fingers over the stubble on his chin.

When Steve stepped out, Tony was already dressed in his pink cat shirt and sinfully short black cutoffs, tapping away at his laptop like usual. “We got a hit on Garrett in the breakfast restaurant just like you predicted,” Tony said, glancing up from his laptop. “Jarvis also picked up a call to one of the restaurant servers from Garrett regarding payment for a service so I’m guessing he’s is gonna pass the info over to one of the wait staff to deliver to Bateman.”

Tony routed the program to his phone so he could get updates through breakfast before he was ready to go. Steve threw a friendly arm around his shoulders as they headed towards the restaurant. He tried not to blush as Tony slipped his hand into his back pocket, loving the warm weight of it.


	9. Chapter 9

They got seated by a sweet looking brunette hostess in a corner booth where Tony and Steve could sit beside each other with a full view of the restaurant while still being able to trade whispers without looking like anything more than a couple completely taken with each other.

Tony grabbed his hand on the table, but Steve hid his surprise well, keeping his eyes on the menu as he decided on what to eat for breakfast. It was useless though, trying to focus on anything other than Tony’s small hand in his, radiating warmth. Steve couldn’t help but wonder if his palms were sweaty and whether or not Tony could feel that. He tried not to sigh, he sounded like a prepubescent teen holding hands for the first time.

“I think I’ll have an omelet no veggies but extra cheesy, what about you, love?” Tony turned to him and Steve’s brain short circuited, Tony was really trying to kill him. He hadn’t even noticed the waiter come to take their order. It was too early in the morning for this.

Steve had been a lot more prepared for pretending to be a couple last night, but now, with all his cylinders not firing, he was surprisingly slow to respond, he stared at Tony for a moment with a sigh before turning back to the waiter, “I’ll have whatever he is having.”

“No, he won't,” Tony’s brows furrowed, shooting Steve a concerned look as he changed his order, “if he’s having an omelet, he’s having one all the protein packed on, and extra veggies.”

The waiter smiled politely, reading their order back to them and tucking his pad into his pocket before heading off to put their order in. The moment he turned his back, Tony turned to him with a confused face, “is everything alright there, Grant?”

The use of his cover name brought Steve out of his confusion, he shook himself off trying not to groan. He really needed to keep it together or he would blow this whole mission for the both of them. Tony rubbed a soothing thumb over Steve’s knuckles absentmindedly with a hesitant smile. Steve’s brain zeroed in on the motion, desire welling up inside him until he wanted nothing more than to lean over in the booth and kiss Tony senseless.

“Can we get a round of coffee here, please?” Tony asked a passing server who brought them an entire carafe of heavenly smelling brown liquid with a smile.

Tony downed his in a couple of gulps, steam leaking out of the sides as he moaned into the cup. With a sigh he pulled Steve’s hand closer to him on the table, fixing his arresting blue gaze on him. “You know you can tell me anything right?” Tony raised an eyebrow at him and Steve nodded shakily.  “tell me what’s going on? You’ve been out of it since this morning.”

“Nothing,” he said quickly, knowing full well that Tony didn’t believe him one bit. But there was no way he could just outright admit that he was hopelessly in love with Tony and probably had been unknowingly pining after him for years. He looked into Tony’s brilliant eyes, the blue startling him enough that it shook him out of his reverie. 

_ You're so beautiful, I love you _ Steve longed to say, there were so many things he needed to tell Tony. With a sigh, he pulled his hand away from Tony’s to take a sip from his water, the frigid glass cooled his palm off, he rubbed his damp hand against his jeans feeling his heartbeat even out. There was nothing he wanted more than being with Tony, but he couldn’t risk years of friendship for his own selfishness

He glanced at Tony who was shredding a paper napkin with anxious fingers. He frowned to himself, his uneasiness was negatively affecting Tony who didn’t go on very many undercover reconnaissance missions and relied on Steve for guidance. And here Steve was letting him down by allowing himself to get distracted and being horribly unprofessional and immature. He shook his head trying to clear it and focus on the rest of the restaurant guests. He was supposed to be keeping an eye out for Garrett. He needed to get in the right headspace and make sure he was making Tony feel at ease. They were in this together and he really needed to start acting like it.

Resigned, Steve reached back for Tony’s hand, “I’m sorry, it’s just early. I’m good now.”

“Well-” Tony cut off with a frown, pulling out his vibrating phone with his free hand. The hologram displayed a whole dossier of added information on Jason Bateman and his known involvement in Hydra operations. Tony leaned over so Steve could look over his shoulder to review the information. There was a blurry picture of Bateman but Steve was almost certain it was the guy serving their table. The information sat in his stomach like a lead weight as he gripped Tony’s hand tighter.

Steve looked up as a different server came by with their breakfast. His gaze narrowed as Yelena, her name tag reading Ally set Tony’s omelet in front of him before Steve’s. It smelled heavenly, but Steve glared suspiciously at their breakfast. Yelena grinned at both of them, “would you like some pepper on your eggs.”

“No thanks,” Steve shifted closer to Tony, his fight or flight instinct rearing its head as Tony squirmed uncomfortably against him.

“Enjoy your meal, don’t  _ drop off now _ .” Yelena shot them an exaggerated wink as she headed back to the kitchen with her empty tray.

Steve’s eyes swung around the restaurant but Garrett’s table was empty and he couldn’t see Bateman anywhere. He scanned the faces at the restaurant trying to figure out if he’d accidentally missed something but he didn’t recognize anyone. The kitchen was his second guess but he had no way of getting in without drawing attention to the both of them.

Steve kept his eyes on the kitchen as he dug into his eggs, chewing thoughtfully with a delighted groan. He had tried to keep his public eating to a minimum so as not to draw suspicion, the serum made him crave three times as much of what Tony ate, and it was a relief to finally feel satisfied, putting away his food in record time and then shooting Tony, who was halfway done with his breakfast, a bashful smile.

“You have cheese,” Tony lifted his thumb to brush across Steve’s bottom lip, “right there.” He sucked his thumb into his own mouth before turning back to his omelet. Steve was hit with a wave of desire, forgetting about the kitchen, his gaze stuck on Tony’s bottom lip as he tried to go over what just happened. They weren’t even putting on a show right now. There was no one watching them and Tony had just gone and done something so unbelievably arousing.

“Thanks,” he choked out. Tony shot him a raised eyebrow, but he ignored it in favour of a sip of orange juice, hiding his flushed cheeks behind his glass.

Tony chewed thoughtfully, leaning into Steve’s side, probably for the warmth, he thought. “I can’t wait to get home, I bet Dum-E and U miss us. Not having anyone to bother or play fetch with.”

Steve hummed as Yelena came back to collect his plate, offering him a look at the dessert menu which he accepted. Even she looked fairly antsy as she glanced from them to the kitchen. Steve pushed closer to Tony, who made no move to create space between them as he finished his breakfast in comfortable silence.

He could feel the tension strung through Tony’s shoulders as he set down his fork. He pushed his glasses up his nose, gaze swinging around the room as he pulled a plastic, easy going, smile on his face. 

“I’m stuffed but I want dessert,” Tony groaned, rubbing his belly as he peered over Steve’s shoulder at the dessert menu. He turned to Steve with a pout, bringing out the puppy dog eyes that only worked better with his expression magnified by his glasses. “You want to share a cake?”

“Sure, yeah,” Steve ordered them the cake when Yelena came back to collect Tony’s plate and they waited for the order as Tony finished off his coffee with a delighted humm. Steve loved how much younger he looked without the stress of his work underscoring his eyes with exhaustion and adding stressed wrinkles.

Bateman emerged from the kitchen with their cake, setting it on the table in front of him. Steve held his breath waiting for them to be recognized. Bateman distractedly set one fork on the table before scurrying back to the kitchen. Tony didn’t seem the least bit fazed, whatever anxiety he held, he hid it really well, cutting into the chocolate cake with a bite and then offering it to Steve off the same fork. He held eye contact as he wrapped his lips along the fork, loving the taste of chocolate and raspberry exploding across his tongue. The whole time, his brain was squealing about an indirect kiss as Tony spooned another forkful of cake into his own mouth with a delighted sigh.

It wasn’t long before they finished off the entire thing, anticipation weighing on them. Steve’s stomach a warm full, his chest buzzing with excitement as he thought about Tony against him. Tony accepted the check from Bateman, leaving his card.

“Well, at least we haven’t had to engage in combat, we can pretend this is an actual vacation.” Tony smiled up at him.

That’s when a commotion drew their attention, a waiter, not Bateman, pushing past the kitchen double doors with a large manila folder cradled in his arms. Steve sprung into action first, sliding over the table, narrowly avoiding their dirty cake plate, just as the server ran by, tackling him over.

Steve heard Tony coming up behind him and he kicked the package beneath their table as he wrenched the server’s hands behind his back. Security ran in through the entrance, alerted by the noise, taking the server off of Steve’s hands and cuffing him.

“What just happened?” Tony asked breathlessly carefully helping Steve up and checking him over for injuries. Steve waved him off, brushing off his jeans.

“I don’t know,” Steve responded his guard shooting up as both Garrett and Bateman stepped out of the kitchen. He was immediately stepping in front of Tony, his heart racing, ready for a fight.

“Are you both okay?” One of the security guards stepped in front of him, blocking his view of the kitchen. She was almost as tall as Steve, harsh features softening as she looked them both over for injuries. “That was a very smooth takedown sir.”

“We’re both firefighters,” Tony answered proudly, rubbing his hand up and down Steve’s arm as he tried to slow the adrenaline in his veins. “That’s actually how we met.” Steve looked down at Tony who had the moony-eyes perfected. 

Garrett crossed the restaurant eyeing Steve and Tony suspiciously, “did you guys see a folder, about yay big?” He held his hands about half a foot apart in demonstration as his eyes scanned the floor around them.

Steve shrugged as Tony laced their fingers together, wrapping his free hand around Steve’s arm and leaning into his side.

“I saw security take it with them,” Tony piped up, standing on his toes to lean his chin on Steve’s shoulder, “you just missed them.”

“I can take you to our office so you can file a report,” the security guard winked at them as she started walking backwards to the exit, “let’s leave these gentlemen to their morning.” She turned to Steve and Tony with a smile, “thank you both for your service.”

Steve ran his fingers across Tony’s knuckles as they both sat in the booth. With some commendable manuevering, Tony was able to pick up the folder with his feet and grab it, tucking the package between them.

“We gotta get out of here,” Steve whispered into Tony’s hair as he leaned against him. He slid his arms around Tony’s shoulders, “you think you can slip this under your shirt? Mine is too tight, it’ll be noticable.”

Yelena came back with the cheque, returning Tony’s card with a smirk, “nice job dumbasses, I’ll catch you later.”

Tony chuckled as she headed back to the kitchen. He turned back to Steve with a mischievous smile,  “you just want to get your hands under my shirt.”

“So what if i do?” Steve cocked an eyebrow at him with a smirk. “Are you shy Tony?”

Tony laughed, pulling his shirt away from his body and Steve slid the package underneath it. Tony tucked the folder into his belt to keep from sliding out of his shirt. He arched a brow at Steve, “if you piggy back me outta here, no one will be the wiser.”

Steve shrugged and acquiesced, sliding to the edge of the booth and presenting his back to Tony. “Your noble steed awaits.”

Tony’s movements were controlled as he carefully wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck pressing against his back. Steve stood, hooking his arms under Tony’s deliciously bare thighs and standing. The weight was nothing and Tony settled his head on Steve’s shoulder, cheek pressed against Steve’s. He could feel the edge of the file poking uncomfortably between them, but it assured him of its presence.

“We gotta get this to Fury and request extraction before Garrett realizes his information isn’t with security and comes after us.” Tony murmured against Steve’s ear. A passing couple smiled at them like they were adorable puppies.

Steve tried to focus on Tony’s words and not the firm muscles of his bare legs under his fingertips. He hiked Tony higher up his back feeling him tighten his grip on his shoulders.

Steve sighed as he finally got to the hallway where their room was. He reached back to slide his hand into Tony’s back pocket for their key card, pushing the door open. “I can’t wait to finally get home,” Steve whispered with a grin at the thought of the tower and their family. Tony stiffened against him and Steve was about to ask him if everything was alright when-

“You know,” Yelena started the moment they shut the door behind them, startling both of them, “there were ways to get the file out of there that didn’t involve bodily contact.” She raised an eyebrow at both of them as Steve bent down to let Tony slide off his back. She was sitting on the couch, changed out of the waitress uniform. 

“How did you get in?” Tony asked astonished as he pulled the file out from under his shirt. 

“I work here remember?” Yelena rolled her eyes. “You’re welcome, by the way, for the warning.”

She stands, patting Tony on the shoulder as she heads out, leaving them speechless behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

Checkout goes smoothly and Steve has nothing to worry about as he gets ready to put the cruise ship behind him and focus on the more important things in his life, like his best friend, Tony Stark, and figuring out the relentlessly warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest whenever his name comes up in conversation.

Like figuring out why Clint won’t stop calling Tony the team mom even though he clearly hates the title and Steve the tower dad even though the loving nicknames burn something fierce in Steve’s chest. It’s scary how much Steve wants it to be real, for the names to have weight. To actually be tied to Tony in that way. His best friend is like coming home, their shoulders brushing as they tackle dish duty together, the warmth of Tony’s skin against his when they share the couch for movie night, the hot brush of his breath when exhaustion inevitably takes over and he falls asleep, nose in the curve of Steve’s neck.

Steve hated him when they first met, didn’t understand the man who spoke brashly, whose mind worked far too fast, a million miles a minute arcing towards a better tomorrow. Didn’t understand the man who snarled his way through medical, sassed his way through debriefs and didn’t seem to give a second thought about anyone other than himself.

And then the chitauri invasion had happened and Steve had finally understood him. Understood that there was a lot more to his reckless teammate beyond the duck taped front he always put up. Understood he was a man who would sacrifice himself for the greater good without question if it meant a better tomorrow. No matter how cliche it sounds, that moment was when Steve finally saw himself in Tony, in the endlessly stressed line of his shoulders that also seemed to carry the weight of the world. In the bags under his eyes that would match Steve’s own if the serum didn’t take care of them before they happened

It hadn’t taken long for Steve to apologize to him after that. To explain how much he appreciated Tony’s quick thinking that day. Even though they bickered constantly about Tony being excessively disobedient and Steve being overbearingly controlling, at the end of the day he was always happy to coax Tony out of his lab, to play videos games with him on the couch, and devote entire pages of his scrapbook to his own personal hero.

Steve paused on the deck of the cruise ship turning to look at the silky waters of the Mediterranean. Tony‘s hand was still in his, a warm weight, as contentment filled his chest. He brushed his thumb over Tony’s scarred knuckles desperately wanting it to all be real. The necking, the dancing, the giggles. Going to bed with Tony’s scent enveloping him and waking up with Tony’s curls in his face.

Even with the mission hanging over their heads, Tony had been nothing but light-hearted and fun-loving. And Steve had learned so much more about Tony than he had ever wanted to know. He could perfectly recall how delicious Tony smelled in the morning, lashes lowered as he blinked awake. He could fantastically remember the way Tony’s hair curled adorably, cuddling into his side seeking warmth like a flower. He wanted it to be real so desperately it set an ache in his chest and he couldn’t control the wave of sadness he felt as he realised he would be better off not knowing how well he and Tony fit together.

Tony gently tugged on his hand and Steve turned to face him, eyes roaming over his features. Categorizing everything to sear this moment into his brain forever. Steve resisted the urge to press a kiss to Tony’s forehead as he cocked his head in question. Tony led him off the deck, flip flops slapping rhythmically against the dock.

Steve hadn’t been to Italy in forever and he was looking forward to exploring the city through new eyes with his best friend. Tony had promised good food and sunshine. Unlike the cruise, he would have half a day to hang out with Tony as friends instead of colleagues. He was looking forward to catching up with him over lunch and then hopefully falling asleep together on the quintet home. It wasn’t like he needed to catch up, but Tony sure did and Steve was more than happy to be his pillow.

He was probably going to miss that most of all. Falling asleep with the warm weight of Tony against him. Waking up cuddled together, with the soothing smell of Tony on his nose. Sure he was taking advantage of Tony who probably thought of this as strictly platonic work bonding, but he couldn’t help but think of Tony’s lips against his neck and wish it had all been real.

Tony had the file tucked securely in his suitcase, the mission was over. They could go home. He followed Tony off the dock, smiling as he turned to wink at Steve over his shoulder.

Tony who would led him to something better. Who always kept moving toward better and improving what he found. Tony who always looked forward, to the future, and would drag Steve kicking and screaming with him. Whatever it took.

Steve loved him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do oceans like to invest their money?  
> They use liquid assets and frozen assets.


	11. Chapter 11

Steve hadn’t been to Italy since the war when everything was painted in solemn greys and smouldering reds. He didn’t remember much, just the scent of gunpowder in his nostrils and the tight clench of indignation in his heart. The one thing that did stick with him were the people, always kind hearted. Their loving arms open and their laughter warming him up, optimistic even during the worst of times. Steve had always admired that, the Italians were flowers blooming in adversity.

Tony was a perfect example of that. Steve loved that Tony could model hope during dark times. He remembers when the air raids were frequent and food was ephemeral, the war could have used a Tony Stark. Through his months on the front line, he grew to believe in the people, even when he had seen the worst of the country. He hated what it had done to everything, the landscapes, the culture, hard slashes where way had cut deep. With Tony, he could admire it. Without the war, he wouldn’t be here. Somehow Tony always managed to show him only the best.

He had never managed to pick up Italian, German and French yes, but Italian escaped him. He was happy to let Tony take the lead though, the words rolling off his tongue as he spoke to the dock hands to express his gratitude. Their fingers were tangled together as Steve let himself be led to a market in the heart of a small town. The words sounded musical in his best friend’s deep tone, beautiful in a way that Steve absolutely adored. Months ago, he had walked in on Tony playing piano, the foreign language spilling beautifully from his lips and twisting in the air between them as he left his heart, dripping and bloody on the keys. Tony had been too drunk for Steve to think he’d remembered but Steve loved the glimpse into his past that had been accidentally afforded to him.

Since then Steve hadn’t seen Tony at the piano. He hoped that someday his friend would be able to open up the same way again. It truly was something ethereal. Maybe one day, Steve could coax another song out of him. It was wishful thinking, but a super soldier could dream. 

“I have a house out here if you want to stay a while? Couple of extra days to unwind,” Tony suggested, a small smile curving at his perfect pink lips as he looked up at Steve. He had ditched the coloured contacts and Steve loved the wide note to his brown eyes under the frames of his glasses.

Steve wanted to stay with him so bad. There was nothing that sounded more perfect than what Tony was suggesting and Steve wanted to spend forever hidden away from the world in beautiful, perfect Italy with Tony Stark all to himself. But the world needed him more than Steve did. He couldn’t be selfish.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Steve tried to keep the regret out of his voice watching as Tony’s face fell before he was plastering on a fake press smile that made Steve’s heart ache. He immediately wanted to take everything back and say yes, if only to erase Tony’s plastic smile and see a real one. “Not that I don’t want to,” Steve hurried to amend, “but we need to get this package to Fury. Maybe we can come back together later, on a real vacation.”

Tony nodded but his smile didn’t come back and Steve felt the loss sink into his bones as Tony turned to lead them past bustling stalls. It was then that Steve wished he could make Tony laugh the way Clint’s sarcastic comments.

The heat of the sun was relentless as Steve tried to remember a joke he had heard recently that he could share with Tony. Something silly that would make Tony snort. Anything to break the palpable tension.

“Hey Tony,” Steve tugged on his hand a smile breaking out on his face. He had thought of the perfect joke to tell him. This was definitely going to draw out one of those adorable laughs. Or at least a giggle.

“Yes Steve-o,” Tony tilted his head as they sidestepped another tourist, heading down the pathway. He still wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t frowning either. Steve counted that as a win.

“Did you hear about the constipated engineer?” Steve started, his grin growing. Tony is an engineer, this joke is perfect for him.

“Turns out it was a natural log?” Tony looked a little affronted as he turned to Steve, an adorable furrow to his brows. “I told you that joke last week.”

A blush raced across Steve’s cheekbones as he ducked his head, gaze swinging to his feet. All he manages to get out is a little “oh” as an amused smile plays at Tony’s lips.

“At least I know you were listening to me,” Tony laughed, it’s not as strained as Steve thought it would be. At least he’s not offended.

Well he kinda managed to accomplish his mission. He tried brushing off his embarrassment, quelling the wave of heat on his cheeks as he allowed Tony to pull his hand. The relentless sun beat down on them, making their matching blond hair shine.

They stopped every couple of vendors to pick through the items for sale. He found Steve a beautiful white sun hat that he proceeded to place on his head before digging around for some sunscreen. He had given it to Steve because even though thee serum would take care of any sunburns he got, the first couple of hours would still be hell until it kicked in and did its work.

Steve spread the lotion over the bridge of his nose and across his cheeks, making sure to get it into the curve of his neck and the backs of his ears. Tony carefully reached up to rub some into Steve’s cheekbone, his calloused fingers warm against his skin. “You have to reapply in an hour, I don’t want a whiny Cap on my hands.”

A hint of his genuine smile was back and Steve’s stomach flipped as he grinned back adjusting the hat. He probably looked real ridiculous but if it made Tony grin, he would do it anytime. 

“Come on Tony,” Steve rolled his eyes as he followed him to the next stall where Tony dug through handmade fans, “I think I can go at least two hours.

Tony shot him a long suffering look as he dug through a couple of pretty paper fans before sifting through wood ones “your ancestors will be feeling the heat of the Italian sun if you do not listen to me.”

Steve threw his head back in a laugh as Tony bought a fan decorated in red and white flowers on blue stems. He presented the fan to Steve before buying one for himself, the sea painted in red and gold. As they both took pictures, fans spread out in front of their faces, Tony’s genuine smile spread out across his face.

That’s when it hit Steve, he would cross oceans to see those beautiful brown eyes light up. To see the grin curving his lips, creating wrinkles by his eyes. To make Tony happy, like he deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP to boiled water.  
> You will be sorely mist.


	12. Chapter 12

Steve’s stomach was growling as a pretty hostess seated them at a secluded table in the back of a homey Italian restaurant. She seemed to recognize Tony, even with his sunglasses on and she kissed him on both his cheeks, a river of Italian flowing out of her mouth.

Steve felt a swell of discomfort pool in his belly as his cheeks burned. He really wished he’d learned Italian back during the war. Tony was relaxing in his chair as he responded, his shoulders slumping and Steve hadn’t even noticed that he was that tense.

“What would you like to eat?” The woman asked him in heavily accented English, her brow raised at Steve. She was actually beautiful, sun kissed skin and long flowing hair that was loose and flowing around small shoulders.

“Uhm,” he glanced at the menu which was also in Italian before looking up at Tony helplessly. But his attention was elsewhere, on a tall man across the room. 

Tony rattled off a distracted garble at their waitress, probably their order considering she jotted some stuff down on her pad. Without even sparing Steve a second glance, he stood and crossed the room.

“Tony,” came the delighted baritone and even Steve could see the appeal in the strong man who was crushing Tony to his chest. He also had dark olive skin, full lips and hair styled into a pretty undercut. When Tony returned to the table it was with the other man in tow and Steve hated the jealous burn in his stomach as Tony invited this stranger to eat with them.

“Steve this is my friend, Michael,” he set a hand on his shoulder. They almost looked broader than Steve’s but at least he was a couple inches taller. “Michael this is my colleague Steve Rogers, aka Captain America.”

And wasn’t that a punch to the gut. Not best friends or even friends, but colleagues. And with one word Steve felt like he was going to be sick. He fought back the tears threatening his eyes as he struggled to swallow.

An excited smile took over Michael’s face as he shook Steve’s hand, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’ve seen all your films.” Steve tried not to blanch at his perfect English. Michael grinned at Steve before turning back to Tony and rattling off something that made Tony’s cheeks turn a beautiful shade of strawberry.

“So, Steve,” Michael swiveled back around to face him with a big grin, eyes darting to his fingers resting on the table. “You and Tony are married?”

Steve held back an effeminate squeak as his eyes widened. Michael shot another knowing glance at his fingers where he was still wearing the tracker. Tony rolled his eyes, playfully shoving at Michael with a familiarity to his expression that Steve wished was reserved just for him.

“You know I wouldn’t get married without telling you first,” Tony rolled his eyes as the waitress brought warm bread to their table. There was a slight accent to Tony’s words that rocketed arousal through Steve’s hips. He gripped the edge of the table to steady the rush of affection washing through him as he watched Tony from across the table.

“Of course not Tony.” Michael laughed before shaking his head and digging into the bread bowl. His fingers were just as calloused as Tony, but lacked the dirt under his fingernails that Tony usually came with. “Are you guys staying in the summer home? I can have it cleaned out for you in the next hour.”

“Nah, Steve doesn’t want to, we’re heading back to the states tonight.” Tony shrugged nonchalantly as Michael shot Steve an incredulous look.

“He offered you a stay at Casa de la Stark and you said no?” He squinted at Steve before rattling off something in Italian to Tony with a deep-set frown.

“We really need to be getting back to the states,” Steve cut in with an unreasonably icy glare at Michael. “There is no time for hanging around and goofing off like Tony is known to do.”

Tony was staring at the untouched bread roll in his plate, the kind of quiet Steve recognized as hurt. He immediately wanted to take it all back. Michael set a comforting hand on his shoulder before narrowing his eyes at Steve.

He felt his heart sink in his chest. He really shouldn’t be snapping at Tony for no reason. He felt his heart dip lower as the waitress came by with their main course and Tony had ordered Steve’s favourite for him. Steve picked up his fork, his stomach dipping even as it growled. He had no business making Tony feel like shit when he just wanted to have a little fun. God knows he deserves it.

The waitress also set a hand on Tony’s free shoulder murmuring something soft sounding before picking up his plate and heading back to the kitchen. Tony shot her a smile over his shoulder before turning back to Michael and mumbling something.

Shame coloured Steve’s cheeks as he spooned pasta into his mouth. It was delicious but the cloying film of guilt thick on his tongue tainted the warm taste of pasta with the burn of his jealousy.

She came back with a huge slice of what looked like chocolate mousse cake on a plate decorated with chocolate curls and mixed berries. She pressed a kiss on Tony’s head, brushing his locks out of his face as she set his dessert down on the table.

The rest of their lunch went by in awkward silence as Steve tried to figure out how to apologize to Tony without accidentally confessing his undying love for him. He held back a dark chuckle as his eyes settled on Tony’s lips parting around his fork, pink tongue licking the frosting from between the tines.

“Can I get you anything else Steve?” The waitress asked her steely brown eyes unyielding. She had her arms folded across her chest, pad still tucked into her pocket. Maybe she was just here to refuse anything he asked.

“Do you have pie?” He furrowed his brow. He hadn’t gleaned much from reading the menu. Some of the words looked kind of like French though, so he used some deductive reasoning. “Or ice cream?”

“We have gelato?” She collected his and Michael’s empty plates leaving Tony with his half-finished cake. “Do you want chocolate?”

“Sure,” Steve tried to smile warmly at her but even he knew it appeared on his face shaky. “Thank you.”

She nodded resolutely before turning to head back to the kitchen.

“Look alive Tony,” Michael patted him on the shoulder and Tony looked up from his cake, startled, “I’m planning to come visit in the states next month.”

“Really?” Tony’s fork was halfway to his mouth, wide eyes the size of saucers and filled with hope. “That’s awesome, it’s been so long.”

“I would have come by sooner if you had just settled down and got married,” Michael teased, ruffling Tony’s hair.

A light blush coloured Tony’s cheeks as the beginnings of a real grin quirked at the corners of his mouth. “I’ll try my best.”

“You do that Tony,” Michael stood, pressing a firm kiss to the crown of Tony’s head, “I gotta go see to some new investors and I want you to be married when I see you in the states next month, or at least engaged.”

Tony nodded firmly standing to hug him with the obligatory cheek kisses, “I’ll try my best, but I make no promises.”

Michael shot Steve a loaded look with a wicked grin, “I don’t doubt that you will be.”

The moment he was gone Tony’s shoulders were slumping and an apology was spilling out of Steve’s mouth.

“It’s okay Steve,” Tony held up a placating hand as he shoveled the last bit of cake into his mouth, “I’m sorry if we made you uncomfortable. It’s hard to not know what someone is saying when they’re right in front of you.”

Steve frowned but took the out for what it was, “I think I’d like to learn Italian,” Steve fiddled with his napkin as their waitress set Steve’s ice cream in the middle of the table, two spoons for both of them.

“Yeah sure,” Tony dug into the ice cream turning the spoon in his mouth and slowly pulling it out. “Just tell Jarvis and he’d be happy to assist. Or he’ll get you books if you want to learn the old fashioned way.”

Steve’s brows furrowed as he tried to catch Tony’s shifting gaze. “I’d like you to teach me.”

“Oh,” Tony’s lips curved into a delicate smile around the word as he took another spoonful of ice cream. It takes everything in Steve not to zero in on Tony’s lips, lean across the table and press his own against Tony’s in an open mouthed kiss that would taste of chocolate and Tony’s coconut chapstick.

“Are you gentlemen ready do go?” The waitress comes by with a box containing Tony’s uneaten food in a brown paper bag.

“Yeah,” Tony responded not taking his eyes off Steve as he dug his wallet out of his pocket, fishing out a couple hundred dollars in American.

The waitress immediately rolled her eyes. “Tony, we still have some left over from the last time you were here. If you keep tipping us like this the bank is going to think were involved in shady business.”

Tony chuckled finally looking up at her with a genuine smile, “I’ll give them a call when I get stateside.”

He stood gesturing for Steve to follow him as he gives the waitress a warm hug with cheek kisses. She turned to give Steve a hug with a whispered, “take care of him for us”

Steve nodded turning back to look at her as Tony leads them both out of the restaurant. He’d always been in the business of taking care of Tony.


	13. Chapter 13

Tony sagged into Steve’s chest as they waited on the docks for a helicopter to their flight home.

They’d eaten dinner earlier at a small Italian restaurant that had seated them at a table with checkered cloth and more candles than Steve had fingers. Steve had left his hand on the table in case Tony felt the need to take it but it never happened, both of them sticking to their own sides of the table. The pizza was awful, there was no other way to put it. Now he understood why Tony had opted to eat the panini despite the fact that pizza was half his diet.

Steve’s gaze dropped to the dock as he slid his arm around Tony as casually as possible, tucking his shivering form into his side. His heart sunk in his chest as it occurred to him that after this, they would go back to being just friends instead of pretend lovers. He’d have to go back to his cold, empty bed, alone.

Steve settled his chin on Tony’s blond head as he looked out over the Mediterranean. It was a beautiful evening, the sun dipping low on the horizon leaching a brilliant gold into the darkening clouds. Tony’s aftershave tickled his nose as he sighed, it had been a long three days, but it was one of the most pleasant couple days of his life. 

“Do you really think Rumiko is Hydra?” Tony’s trembling words were muffled by the light breeze, his beautiful brown eyes fixed on the horizon. Steve really did prefer the chocolatey colour to the icy blue contacts he had used the last few days.

“There was no way you could have known Tony,” Steve murmured into his hair, he figured it was a friendly move to rub Tony’s back so he gave in to the desire. Tony melted in him, cheek pressed to his chest as he shivered in the cooling evening. “You couldn’t have had any idea;.”

“She had access to all the SI servers,” Tony groaned into Steve’s chest, the words muddled in the fabric of his jacket. Stress coiled his muscles tight and Steve ran his hand across the bunched tendons in his friend’s shoulders.

“We can figure it out together when we get back home,” Steve replied smiling warmly down at him. Tony looked up, eyes wide and vulnerable, and nodded before settling his head back against Steve’s shoulder. Tony relaxed like a cat in his arms, slumping into the curve of his side like a missing puzzle piece.

They settled into a comfortable silence, watching the waves lap against the dock as the sun sunk lower on the horizon. A few birds chattered in the distance, into the clouds and across the skyline. Steve’s fingers itched for his sketchbook to draw the swoop of Tony’s sunny hair against the glistening buildings behind him. The warm chocolate of his eyes reflecting the gold of the sinking sunlight. Steve was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t pick up on the footsteps coming up behind him until he heard her chilling voice.

“You guys are ridiculous,” Steve’s hair stood on end as he turned to glare at Yelena, pushing an unarmed Tony behind him. She had somehow managed to sneak up on him, Steve’s augmented hearing hadn’t picked up on her light footsteps even though she was was in dangerously high heels on the wooden pier. She was wearing a leather suit not unlike Natasha’s under a loose red coat, blonde hair pulled up in a bun behind her head.

“Yelena,” Steve growled dangerously, poised and ready if she decided to try and attack them. He and Tony could both swim, but they both had triggering water-related memories and the last thing Tony needed was a panic attack when he was already stressed. Tony could probably get to the suitcase armour while Steve held her off, it would take too long to pull his shield out of his canvas case though so he would be going in with nothing but his fists. “What are you-?”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” Yelena rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, she cocked her hip raising a skeptical eyebrow at the both of them. “I’m just here to tell you that I’m surprised that you two didn’t fuck the mission.” Only Steve picked up the “or each other” that she tacked on at the end, under her breath and he blushed all the way down to his toes. Yelena smirked at him mischievously, probably delighted to have made the great Captain America squirm.

“Thanks,” Tony responded sickly sweet, his fingers pressing into the center of Steve’s back as he stood on his toes to peer around his shoulder. “I think?”

“Yeah whatever,” Yelena waved her hand in a dismissive gesture as she turned around, “next time we see each other, we will not be on the same side.” A sleek car pulled up to the curb and Yelena paused with her fingers on the handle of the passenger side, “tell Natalia that I haven’t forgotten her promise.” With a deceptively dainty head shake and a light laugh, Yelena slipped into the car, disappearing down the street.

“God, she freaks me out,” Tony shuddered from behind Steve with a light chuckle. “Not as much as Natasha because I worship that woman, but still.”

The whirr of helicopter blades interrupted Steve’s thoughts and he turned back around, ducking as the helicopter came in to land on the water by the docks. Tony grabbed his suitcase armour as Steve slid his canvas bag over his shoulder and picked up both their suitcases.

Steve let out a deep sigh as he turned his head to look out at the pinking horizon. The nice humid air that he had thoroughly enjoyed the last three days. He hefted both their bags into the helicopter after Tony.

“Time to head home.”


	14. Chapter 14

Steve’s bed sheets were the finest silk, his plush memory foam mattress comparable to even Tony’s. But for some reason he couldn’t, for the life of him, fall asleep. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but the room was too quiet, and dark. “Jarvis, lights at ten percent.”

“Do you have a colour preference?” Steve’s eyes swung up to the ceiling as Jarvis responded.

“Uh gold?” The lights raised in a soft gold that cast the room in a warm glow, not unlike candlelight. “Actually, can I get light blue?”

“As you wish sir.” The lights dimmed to a soft baby blue that rang in Steve’s heart like a song he couldn't name. The tension dropped out of his shoulders as he settled against the headboard, reaching for his sketchbook.

It was a green leatherbound book that Tony had bought him when they had gone to the MOMA over the summer. Tony hated museums, but he was always happy to accompany Steve to them, his scrapbook page of museum tickets and paparazzi shots of them admiring art together was a testament to that. 

Steve had dedicated this book to Tony, the first couple pages heart warming renditions of his playful brown eyes, the curve of his full lips, and the jut of his collarbones. The pages after that were of Tony as a whole, blindingly beautiful. Steve sighed to himself, he had it bad. And it had taken Yelena cracking jokes about the sexual tension between them for him to realize it.

He made it to the last page, putting his pencil to his page for the closed crescent of Tony’s eyes and the dark fan of his lashes across his high cheekbones. Soon the drawing was swelling to include his whole face and then the sloping line of his relaxed shoulders, the warm mattress beneath him. The glow of the arc reactor was always the hardest, capturing the lines as they danced across Tony’s face and illuminated the dip of his neck.

Steve was shading in the muscles of Tony’s biceps when there was a knock on his bedroom door. He raised his eyebrows as he glanced at the clock on his bedside table setting his sketchbook down. It was well past midnight, no one else should be up. “Come in?”

Tony trudged in with a red fur blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a cape. He was carrying two steaming mugs as he trudged in, messy blond hair flopping into his eyes. He was only wearing his boxers and Steve had to forcibly tear his eyes away from Tony’s abs and his delicious happy trail to focus on his face, glasses on the brink of falling off his nose. “Hey Steve, Jarvis said you were still up so I came to check up on you.”

“You’re probably tired, you didn’t have to.” Steve scooted over to make room for Tony as he handed Steve a mug of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and whipped cream and crawled under the covers. 

Tony chugged his coffee, steam leaking out of the sides until his mug was empty. He set it down beside Steve’s sketchbook with a shiver as he pulled his blanket tighter around him. He was cold against his side and Steve immediately leaned closer to him in an effort to warm him up. Tony practically melted against him, sagging against the headboard with his head on Steve’s shoulder. “Movie?”

“Yeah, Jarvis can you throw up Die Hard?” Steve glanced up at the ceiling as Jarvis complied with his request, the tv in the corner lighting up. He slowly moved his arm to rest on Tony’s shoulders, hoping the move could be considered friendly.

He slowly downed his hot chocolate, the sweet liquid warming up his insides the same way Tony’s presence warmed up his outside. Steve chewed thoughtfully on a marshmallow as he reached over Tony to set his empty mug down on his night stand. He completely missed whatever Tony was murmuring at him but suddenly there were fingers at his lips and Tony was sucking his thumb, covered in whipped cream, into his mouth.

Steve’s eyes zeroed in on the metal circling Tony’s ring finger. The gold wedding band, Tony was still wearing his. Steve glanced at his own finger, he still had his on too, the weight had just become too familiar. He turned his attention back to the screen, the weight of the metal around his finger burning into his skin. He didn’t even know what was going on in the movie, hyper aware of Tony leaning into his side. 

Tony fell asleep first, his head lolling on to Steve’s chest, dark eyelashes brushing high cheekbones. Steve carefully pulled his glasses off his face, setting them on the nightstand beside Tony’s empty cup before carefully tucking them both into bed and switching the tv off.

When Steve woke up the next morning, tucked behind Tony with blond curls in his face and a steady heartbeat against his own, he realized exactly what was missing the night before.

He really was in for it.


	15. Chapter 15

“Do you remember the first song you ever danced to?” Peggy asked Tony with a raised eyebrow. He was sitting on his aunt’s bed, kicking his dangling legs off the side.

“The Bing Crosby one?” Tony’s brows furrowed adorably as he cocked his head at Peggy like a puppy. “Swinging in the Stars or something? I think I was maybe three years old when you picked me up and tried to show me how to dance.”

“Swinging on a Star,” Steve corrected in a barely there whisper from where he was sitting, in a comfortable armchair, by Peggy’s bed looking up at Tony.

“That’s the one,” Peggy responded running her fingers through Steve’s hair as she smiled up at Tony warmly. “Could you put it in the player please?”

“Of course,” Tony gracelessly slid off the bed heading to the neat bookshelf and flipping through the record covers. His fingers paused on a bright yellow one, Hawaiian Paradise, before continuing to look for the one Peggy had asked for. It took him a couple of minutes, but finally he held it up triumphantly before pulling out the record and sliding into the player with surprising ease.

The opening notes started playing and Tony held out his hand, smile warm and inviting, “Aunt Peg, may I have the pleasure of this dance?”

“Nope,” she smiled cheekily before sitting up and pushing at Steve’s arm, “I’m sure Steve, however, would absolutely love to dance with you.”

Tony paused, half a second of adorable confusion on his face before he turned and held a hand out to Steve. Steve allowed Tony to gently pull him closer taking his hand in his, until suddenly they were close enough that Steve could count the eyelashes on the shorter man. Steve had his hand on the small of Tony’s back their hips pressed tightly together. Tony had to lean back just to be able to look up at Steve.

The song was slow as Tony led him through the steps with a gentle pressure on his shoulder. He could feel the soft rise and fall of Tony’s chest pressing the arc reactor against his skin. The genius was rubbing circles into Steve’s shoulder with the pad of his thumb.

Steve looked down his eyes catching Tony’s warm brown gaze. He had flecks of green around one of his irises mixinging into a warm, chocolatey brown. His other eye was a caramel hazel swirling out into a dark green. He was beautiful. And Steve couldn’t deny that he loved him. He never wanted to.

Steve gently let go of Tony’s hand to cup his face, his other hand sliding up the smaller man’s neck to wind in the curly ends of his hair, still dyed an arousing blond. Steve bent down closing the gap between them and brushing his lips gently against Tony’s in a barely there kiss. He felt the genius’ eyelashes flutter against his cheeks before all but melting into him. In a second he was pressing in and kissing back their mouths moving together as Tony swiped at the seam of Steve’s lips. He acquiesced allowing the smaller man to lick into his mouth as the soothing sounds of Bing swelled in the background. Tony sighed, nipping at Steve’s lower lip and tugging on it with his teeth before reluctantly pulling away.

Steve slid his hand back down Tony’s spine reclaiming his hand and pressing a firm kiss to the corner of his mouth. He tilted his head to the side allowing Tony to rest his cheek against his shoulder. He could feel Tony’s warm breath across his neck as Steve took the lead gently swaying them back and forth in time with the music.

“I love you.”

If Steve didn’t have augmented hearing, he probably would have missed Tony’s mumbled words. He had to tilt his head at an awkward angle but he kissed the stubble dotting Tony’s jaw, “I love you too, doll.”

Steve bent down to kiss Tony again content to hold on to this moment, this stretch of perfect infinity, for as long as he could. Peace was always a rubber band stretched too thin and Steve wanted to take his best friend and run before the elastic snapped them back into reality.

Slowly the song played to a close and Steve realised that they still had an audience. Peggy had a pleased look on her face, her hands clasped under her chin as she smiled at them. “You two are a sight for sore eyes.”

Tony smothered a laugh into Steve’s chest the sound bouncing into the room. Steve still had an arm around him though he’d dropped his other hand to brush Tony’s curls out of his face. “I can’t believe you’ve been playing cupid for us,” Tony giggled turning around to fake glare at Peggy.

“Only for my favourite godson,” Peggy chuckled pulling the sheets up around her.

“I’m your only godson aunt Peg,” Tony rolled his eyes his hands splayed across Steve’s chest.

“I think I’m sleepy, you two should leave and go out to lunch,” Peggy slid down in her bed fluffing the pillows behind her, “or just have each other for lunch instead, I’m not picky.”

“Peggy,” Steve groaned, his cheeks reddening as he bent to kiss her goodbye. “You’re almost as bad as Tony is.”

Tony shot Steve a playful glare over his shoulder as he bent down to give his aunt a warm hug, “we’ll see you next week aunt Peggy.”

“Of course,” she patted his flushed cheeks before pushing him toward Steve, “now leave before I kick you and your sexual tension out.”

Steve laughed as his fingers found Tony’s, locking them together as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Bing Cosby echoing in Steve’s rib cage long after they’d left Peggy’s brownstone.

**Author's Note:**

> This is your captain speaking. Thank you all for joining us aboard through rough waters and smooth sailing. I am grateful to every single one of you! I hope you join us again when we set sail for our next adventure. I would like to thank my first mates, beta readers ([Nina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_gilliath/pseuds/el_gilliath), [Megan](http://leturna.tumblr.com/), and [ootcs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_of_those_crushing_scenes/pseuds/one_of_those_crushing_scenes)) who made it through the drafts with smiles on their faces and battened down the hatches when I threw murky updates at them. I wouldn’t have finished this without my crew of commenters who kept me going through stormy skies. I am so happy you guys enjoyed.  
> Come yell at me on [tumblr](https://starksnack.tumblr.com/) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/starksnack/).


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